1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-pole connector for mounting on a surface of a printed circuit board. More particularly, the present invention relates to a structure of a female connection terminal soldered to the surface of the printed circuit board.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application Nos. Hei. 11-364283 and 2000-363357, which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical example of related multi-pole connectors, mounted on a surface of a printed circuit board, is shown in FIG. 12 which is an exploded perspective view thereof and in FIG. 13 which is a perspective view of the connector of FIG. 12 in its assembled condition. As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the connector comprises a housing 1, female connection terminals 2 and a spacer block 3. The housing 1 has two (upper and lower) rows of connection ports 1a, into which male connection terminals (not shown) are insertable, formed in a front surface thereof in a longitudinal direction. The female connection terminals 2 are press-shaped products of an electrically-conductive metal sheet, and are receivable in receiving chambers (not shown) disposed inwardly of the connection ports 1a. The spacer block 3 is fittable into an opening (not shown) formed in a rear surface of the housing 1 generally over an entire area thereof.
The spacer block 3 includes, flange portions 4 which are formed respectively at opposite ends thereof and have screw holes respectively, a bar-like fitting portion 5 which extends between the two flange portions 4 and can be fitted in the opening in the rear surface of the housing 1, and engagement plates 7 which extend respectively from the flange portions 4 and can be engaged with lock piece portions 6 formed at opposite ends of the housing 1. Ribs 5a are projected on upper and lower surfaces of the fitting portion 5. For partitioning the receiving chambers into plural sections, these ribs 5a cooperate with an inner peripheral surface of an opening formed in the rear surface of the housing 1, so that two (upper and lower) rows of narrow spaces are formed.
Distal end portions 2a of the female connection terminals 2, received respectively in the inner receiving chambers, are passed respectively through the aforementioned narrow spaces, and these distal end portions 2a, extending outwardly from the spacer block 3, are soldered respectively to predetermined portions of a surface of a printed circuit board.
In the above connector, the female connection terminals 2 are densely arranged in two rows in a multi-pole manner, and therefore in the case where electrically-conductive circuit pattern portions are wide, the number of the female connection terminals need to be reduced in accordance with the width of the conductive circuit pattern portions such that the female connection terminals are arranged at increased intervals. As a result, there has been encountered a disadvantage that dead spaces are formed in the printed circuit board-connecting connector.
The number of such dead spaces tends to further increase in the case where the conductive circuit pattern has an intersection circuit or a short-circuit, and when assembling the connector, it has been difficult to confirm whether or not all of the required female connection terminals 2 are inserted.
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printed circuit board-connecting connector which has a high space efficiency, and achieves a high degree of freedom of a board design, and can be easily assembled.
To achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector which comprises a connector housing, at least one receiving chamber formed within the connector housing, at least one connection terminal including a contact portion which is insertable in the at least one receiving chamber of the connector housing, and a distal end portion which is electrically connectable to a conductive circuit pattern formed on a printed circuit board, and a spacer block fittable to the connector housing, the spacer block having a pair of upper and lower passage windows, which are disposed correspondingly to the at least one receiving chamber of the connector housing and symmetrically with respect to a center axis of the contact portion of the at least one connection terminal received in the at least one receiving chamber, wherein the distal end portion of the at least one connection terminal is passable through and retainable a position thereof at one of the upper and lower passage windows when the contact portion of the at least one connection terminal is inserted in the at least one receiving chamber and the spacer block is fitted to the connector housing.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the distal end portion of the at least one connection terminal is passable through and retainable a position thereof at the other one of the upper and lower passage windows when the contact portion of the at least one connection terminal is rotated at an angle of 180xc2x0 about the center axis thereof and inserted in the at least one receiving chamber and the spacer block is fitted to the connector housing.
In the above connector, the distal end portion of the connection terminal can be selectively projected through and from one of the upper and lower passage windows of the spacer block. Accordingly, provided that there are a plurality of connection terminals, a plurality of corresponding receiving chambers and upper and lower rows of passage windows, the arrangement of the distal end portions of the connection terminals (that is, the interval between the adjacent distal end portions for each row of passage windows) can be changed in accordance with the width of line portions of the electrically-conductive circuit pattern and the design of this circuit pattern, while using the connection terminals of the same configuration. Therefore, the use of any of the connection terminals does not need to be omitted, and hence all of the receiving chambers are efficiently used, and an installation space for the connector can be made small, and an operation for confirming whether or not all of the connection terminals are mounted can be carried out easily, so that the efficiency of the assembling operation is enhanced. And besides, the degree of freedom of a board design can be greatly increased.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that a mating terminal is insertable into the contact portion of the at least one connection terminal at a generally center in height of the contact portion in such a condition that the at least one connection terminal is received in the at least one receiving chamber.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the at least one connection terminal further includes a side piece portion which is formed stepwise on the contact portion, and from which the distal end portion is extended, and wherein a distance, at which the distal end portion is spaced from the center axis of the contact portion, is longer than a distance at which a circumference of the contact portion is spaced from the center axis thereof.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the spacer block has positioning projections formed on a surface thereof to be opposed to the printed circuit board. Accordingly, the connector can be easily and accurately positioned relative to the printed circuit board by inserting the positioning projections respectively into holes formed in the printed circuit board.